Use of Extraterrestrial Resources for Mars Basing, March 1963

8/8/2019 Use of Extraterrestrial Resources for Mars Basing, March 1963

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US E OF XTRATERRESTRIAL REOURCES FOR MARS BASING

Ernst A. Steinhoff

May 1963

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USE OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL RESOURCES FO R M.AI$SBAS3MG

Ernst A. Steinhoff

The RAND Corporation, Santa -onica, California

The advent of manned space f l igh t s to destinations vi thin our solr.-syste- and th e possible future establishment of more or less pcr~rc.nentexploratory bases on th e Moon and alars will lead to complex log i s t i c s ,if a ll supplies have to be provided from th e Earth. Use of regenera-tion techniques to recover water and oxygen, and hydioponic grden ingto grow food can reduce th e logis t ics requirements to a small fract ion

of th e or ig ina l value and so reduce th e cost of resupply. A fur therdrast ic reduction of space transportation costs can be achieved byusing lunar and planetary resources fo r th e local production of uater,which together with its decomposition products represents over 9%of a ll th e log i s t i c needs of humans and which can also sat isfy rocketpropulsion needs fo r spacecraft if used in its dissociated state andl iquefied form as LM. and L0 2 . With refueling fac i l i t i es a t th e re -mote terminals, th e use of locally-produced fuels will dras t ica l lychange the operating modes, resul t ing in a high degree of reusab i l i tyof spacecraft which otherwise would have to be discarded. An "AdvancedTechnology Program" is evolved in broad terms outlining areas of appliedresearch and advanced development necessary to achieve th i s objective.Besides water, other local ly produced chemical compounds sui table asfuels fo r spacecraft and ex t ra te r res t r i a l surface and f l igh t vehiclesor as nutr ients fo r th e local production of food and fo r th e photo-synthetic regeneration of oxygen are discussed. The early prototypedevelopment of mining, processing and regeneration equipment fo r th eabove purposes is encouraged on the basis of economic pay-offs re -sulting frora the i r use a t ex t ra te r res t r i a l exploratory bases where theyshould also contribute enhanced f lex ib i l i ty and increased safety tosuch operations.

Any views expressed in th i s paper ar e those of the author. Theyshould not be interpreted as ref lect ing th e views of The RAND Corporationor th e off ic ia l opinion or policy of any of its governmental or privateresearch sponsors. Papers are reproduced by The RAND Corporation as acourtesy to members of its s ta ff .

This paper was prepared fo r presentation a t a Symposium on TheExploration of Mars held in Denver, Colorado, June 6-7, 1963.

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INTRODUCTION

Both th e United States and th e Soviet Union have established as nationalobjectives th e manned exploratory landing of spacecraft on th e moon. Thesuccessful accomplishment of such an objective by ei ther one of these twonations will have as a further consequence the establishment of mannedlunar ex-ploratory bases which, in th e early periods of the i r operation,wil l depend on shipments of fuel, food, equipment, and other v i t a l itemsfrom th e earth. The cost of such vi ta l logistics has been analyzed andpredicted in -,.any studies and it has become apparent that th e degree oflogis t ics required and i ts cost will depend on th e possibi l i ty of findingand uti l izing lunar, resources fo r water, return fuels, compounds fo r th ereplenishment and operation of l ife support supplies, and building materi-als . Previous studies have fur ther shown that within a few years af tera successful manned landing on th e moon, technology wil l have also openedth e possibi l i ty of establishing manned observational orbits around th eplanet Lars and th e landing on Mars i t se l f . The possibi l i ty of estab-

l i shing and maintaining permanent exploratory bases on Mars wil l dependto even a hitgher degree on th e use of local resources to relieve or rakeunnecessary logis t ics from th e earth fo r return fuels, l i fe support andfood. The present study, much of which evolved during th e one year'swork of th e "Working Group on Extraterrestr ia l Resources," an informalgroup from NASA, th e Air Force, th e Army Corps of Engineers, JPL, andRAND, supported by members of univers i t ies and industr ia l firms, dealswith this possibi l i ty. The resul ts of this work and of many other inves-t igat ions show tha t if water can be found in the form of water of crys-t a l l i za t ion in rocks or in subsurface deposits in th e form of permafrost,a very major portion of th e t o t a l logis t ics requirements fo r permanentlunar and planetary bases can be supplied locally, part icular ly if LH2and L02 ar e used as th e principal propellants fo r the return vehicles.The supporting technology to achieve this capability should be developedin paral lel with th e lunar transportation technology so as to make useof local resources as early as possible.

THE ROLE OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL RESOURCES IN THE ESTABLISHMenT OF UJAR ANDPLANETARY BASES

General Remarks

In RAND Publication P-2515 (Ref. 1), th e author discussed th e poss ib i l i tyof using local resources in th e operation and logis t ics of a sc ien t i f i cexploration of Mars and has shown that th e uti l izat ion of chemically boundwater fo r producing return fuels, and water fo r food production and lifesupport mar radieally reduce th e logis t ics requirements from earth and

hence th e operating cost of a permanent base. The possibi l i ty of initiallyusing one of th e two natural sa te l l i t es as an interim step and possiblyl a te r as a permanent refueling si te fo r return f l ights and exploratoryf l ights towards th e Jovian Planets has been indicated.

H. H. Koelle in his study On th e Evolution of Earth-Lunar TransportationSystems (Ref. 2) has shown that th e costs of operation of earth-lunar

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round t r i p s can be reduced by a factor in excess of twenty-five iflunar refuel ing is used, as compared to th e round trip cost using th eplanned Apollo vehicles. By using indigenous materials fo r l i fe support,base operation, fur ther base establishment, and lunar surface transpor-t a t ion , th e overal l mission cost would be fur ther reduced. Figure 3 ofReference 2 indicates tha t postulated advanced systems such as th e useof nuclear propulsion from ear th orbi t to lunar orbi t , ful ly recoverablesystems, etc . , do no t appear to equal th e capabil i t ies of lunar refuel-in g systems before 1980 and it is questionable whether these can be matchedeven a t tha t period. It is fur ther expected that th e use of indigenousresources, combined with more advanced nuclear ferry systems, may reduceth e cost trend fur ther in th e post-1980 er a and so pave th e way to inten-s ive interplanetay c:aploration within th e l imita t ions of our nationalresources.

The Role of Ext ra te r res t r i a l Production of Rocket Fuels

Daring th e period of selection of th e Apollo operating mode, variousapproaches involving refueling in earth orbi t , in lunar orb i t and onth e lunar surface were studied and th e presently favored operat ional modeof lunar orb i t rendezvous was selected. It is evident tha t in th e furtherevolution of lunar and planetary f l igh t s and operating modes, th e use ofrefuel ing rendezvous a t both ends of th e t ransfer t r ips between Earth-Moon,Earth-Mars and possibly Earth-Moon-Mars, wil l become standard operatingmodes, with th e l a t t e r trend more questionable however. This approach isapplicable not only to th e use of chemical propulsion systems bu t also tovar ious types of nuclear propulsion. A trend can be foreseen, tha t withth e development of a high payload volume, part ly or ful ly recoverableEarth surface to orbi t , and Mars surface to Mars orbi t , lunar surface tolunar orb i t t ransport vehicles and t ransport techniques using rendezvoustechniques

to del iver the i r cargo and fuels wil l come into more commonuse. Ferry vehicles, f lying from Earth orbi t to lunar orb i t and f romEarth orb i t to planetary orbi ts (e .g . Earth to Mars) or to intermediateplanetary orb i t s (e .g . Mars orbi t) to f ina l planetary orbi t (e .g . Jupi ter,Saturn or to orbi ts bround one of th e major sa te l l i t es of these planets)w i l l then handle th e t ransfer orbi ts between th e two terminal orbi ts . Int h i s mode of operation, these vehicles wil l become reusable subject tomaintenance and resupply a t both terminal orbi ts , and will be reused manyt imes fo r f l igh ts between these terminal orbi ts . Within these terminalorb i t s , rendezvous then wil l be made with supply vehicles, ascending fromEarth or lunar surface and from th e Mars surface; and manned orb i ta l termi-nals w i l l very probably be used to fac i l i ta te fuel t ransfer, personnelt r ans fe r and maintenance. In Mars orbi t , th e natural sa te l l i t e Phoboscould be used fo r such purposes. The use of the Moon as an intermediateterminal , however, resul ts in to o high a penalty on account of th e magni-tude of th e lunar gravity. Use of a lunar orb i t terminal stat ion wouldbe more advisable. Energy requirements fo r such shut t le missions aredetai led in References 1 and 3. The above described shut t le- type inter-1lanetary t ransportat ion system requires th e avai labi l i ty of suff ic ientaziounts of fuel a t th e planetary terminal sta t ions and can be real izedeconomically only if these fuels can be produced on th e surface of th eMoon, th e planets and/or a t th e surface of the natural sa te l l i t es of th eplaniets. If one uses LH2 and LO2 as the basic fuel fo r the propulsion of

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space ferr ies , then water can be th e raw material fo r producing thesefuels, provided nuclear electr ic power is available a t th e location of th eproduction fac i l i t i es . Cargo volumes which could be brought to the i r des-t inat ion then could be 3 to 5 times as large as they would be if refuel ing

could be performed at only one terminal ra ther than a t both ends of th eround t r ip of th e space ferry. Furthermore, th e single-terminal re -fueling method would involve th e discarding of intermediate stages andtherefore would impair th e f u l l reusabi l i ty of such ferry systers , unlessnuclear and electr ical propulsion systems of rather high Av capabi l i tyand very high specific impulses were used.

In th e event of th e use of nuclear and e lec t r ica l propulsion systems,fuels other than IE, and LO can be used with the objective of increasings to rab i l i ty, reducing effects of corrosion and possibly obtaining denserfuels u eUcc rcquired tank vn 1 iimes and structural weight f ract ions.Fuels in this category ar e 111-, i2H1, and re la ted chemicaL compounds.Raw materials fo r these fuels may no t be abundant on th e 'loon or on liarsbut are expected to be in ample supply a t th e Jovian planets and possiblyon some of the i r sa te l l i t es . Lit t le is known about techniques fo r miningand manufacturing these in th e expected environments of th e outer planetsexcept tha t such efforts would have to take place in extremely hos t i l eenvironments. At Jupi ter it may be possible to scoop up gaseous hydrogenand helium during th e closest approach of e l l i p t i c a l orbi ts on th e fringesof th e Jovian atmosphere, using nuclear heating of part of th e atmosphericgases to provide enough propulsion to overcome th e atmospheric drag andusing l iquefaction techniques to store th e balance of th e collected fuelin th e liquid state . It appears tha t heat rejection in th e presence ofsevere aerodynamic heating could pose suff icient problems to make suchoperations impractical. Here skip techniques in which collection takesplace within th e atmosphere and heat re ject ion outside of th e atmosphereusing the heat sink capabi l i ty of frozen hydrogen fo r th e l iquefaction ofgaseous hydrogen during th e skip may permit th i s approach to fue l collection.Data on temperature, density, and composition of th e Jovian atmosphere asa function of height above th e surface should help to establ ish th e feasi-b i l i t y or nonfeasibi l i ty of such refueling and should be obtained by un-manned probes as soon as Jovian round t r ips become feasible .

From th e preceding it may be concluded tha t th e f u l l exploi ta t ion of th etechniques of mining and processing of ex t ra te r res t r i a l resources fo rfue l production is an important technological task, which, if successful,w i l l greatly reduce th e cost of exploring our plaretary system, regardlessof whether chemical, nuclear or electr ic propulsion systems ar e plannedfo r use during the various time periods independent of th e technical super-io r i ty of th e individual techniques.

The Role of Ext ra te r res t r i a l Acquisit ion of Life Supporting Supplies

In Reference 1, th e needs of human crews of spacecraft and extraterrestr ialbases fo r l i fe supporting supplies have been suwarized. From this itappears tha t water can provide more than 9 M , f all these supplies ifclosed-loop systems ar e used and maximum use is made of regeneration ofth e individual l i fe support compounds. The development of these techniques

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I s mandatory in any event fo r long duration interplanetary t r ips such asEarth-Mars t r ips . The expansion of these developments to extraterrestr ia lbase operations is bu t one more step and should include, as an additionalextension of capabi l i t ies , th e local production of food by means of hydro-ponic techniques as soon as water can be mined and produced, using waterof crystal l izat ion, available in many rocks in varying percentages. InTable 4 of Ref. 1, it is shown that , if f u l l l i fe support logis t ics hasto be supplied from Earth, 5.5 kg of supplies pe r man and day must bebrought to th e ex t ra te r res t r i a l base, assuming no use of regenerationtechniques. This reduces to 2.28 kg pe r man and day, if only water isregenerated and recycled. If photosynthesis is used (e.g. with algaecultures or hydroponics) this reduces still fur ther to .57 kg pe r man andday. There is a good possibi l i ty tha t many of th e needed resupply consti-tuents can be found, on th e Moon and Mars, so tha t th e actual logis t ics re -quirement could be a small fraction of .57 kg/man-day. From these figuresone can appraise th e importance of th e ut i l i za t ion of extraterrestr ia lresourQ. fui e;~iei 'the logia--tc effcrt to .... pc.r. luiai :" pana"-tai..bases. It is obvious tha t th e logis t ic supplies for return f l ights couldalso be produced a t these bases. The savings in logis t ics fo r which th eor iginal t ransfer vehicles were dimensioned then could be used to makefas ter t ransfer t r ips between earth and Mars orbi t , fo r example, so as toprogressively shorten th e waiting times during which t ransfer f l igh t scould no t be made economically because of th e excessive energy requirementto achieve th e needed Av range.

RESOURCES, EQUCIP 2T AND TECHNIQUES FOR THE UTILI7ATION OF E,`7BATERRESTRIALRESOURCES IN THE OPERATION OF LUNAR AN D PIANETARY BASES

General

Considerable speculation has been engaged in as to th e mineral resourcesto be expected on th e Moon and whether these ar e similar to those found

in th e Earth's crust. Here th e re la t ion of the origin of th e Moon andit s historical evolution to what we see and observe today will have aconsiderable bearing on the distribution and abundance of the various ex-pected chemical compounds and rock elements. Among others, researchersat JPL have studied the limits of possible concentrations of H, 0, H2 0, ofthe most commo' metals, refractories and carbonaceous materials which couldserve as raw ; -tals fo r th e support of l i fe on th e Moon and to providefuels fo r surff !hicles, fo r shuttle f l ights from th e lunar surface tolunar orbi t and f l igh t s from lunar to Earth orbi t .

If th e original materials of th e Earth's crust and th e lunar crust had aclose chemical resemblance as to composition and frequency of distr ibut ionof th e various minerals, th e hard vacuum at th e surface and th e exposureto solar and cosmic radiation combined with the extreme temperatures(from +t112C to -153 0 C) may have le d to a considerable degree of outgassingand mechanical as well as chemical decomposition of the various surfaceminerals.

With th e expected increased success of future Ranger missions and moresophisticated Surveyor missions, new knowledge about the surface compo-sition of the Moon should be obtained, permitting a better interpretationof the Moon's history and i ts major constituents. Tests are going on inmany university and industrial laboratories to determine the behavior of

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th e larger distances from th e initial base, while surface transporta-t ion can be more closely re la ted to Earth t ransportat ion methods basedon th e apparently much smoother Martian surface features . With verylittle or no oxygen in th e Martian atmosphere, oxidizers in addition tofuel have to be carr ied for vehicles on Mars as well as on th e Moon.Fuel c e l l powered power plants using H2 and LO could store th e com-bustion products fo r l a te r regneration a t th e home base, while th eproducts of other fuel combinations, not leading to l iquid-combustionproducts, could be released af te r th e reaction.

While th e water vapor content in th e Martian atmosphere, based on recentmeasurements with Stratoscope II from th e fringes of th e Earth 's atmos-phere, is apparently as low as 1/1000 to 4/1000 of th e water vapor con-t en t in th e Earth 's atmosphere, there is considerable evidence that th epolar caps consis t of hoarfrost possibly only a few millimeters th ick.The existence of even minor amounts of water on 14ari encourpaf- onnto expect to f ind water of crystal l izat ion bearing rock formations and

th e possibi l i ty of volcanic action with gaseous discharges, includingwater and hydrocarbons in vapor form. On th e Moon as well as on Marsor Phobos, electr ic power wi l l be needed to separate useful chemicalcompounds from the i r original matrices; and there is a need to developsui table techniques and equipment compatible in weight, r e l i ab i l i t y,and ease of operation with th e cost of first t ransportat ion to theirdest inat ion. Here a wide area of applied research and advanced technologyis indicated fo r study to determine whether the successful use of thesetechniques could be achieved. The development of sealed ecologicalcycles to prevent losses of valuable compounds, and regeneration andrecycling techniques are other important development goals.

Development of Resources

Fuels Considering th e weight f ract ion involved in lunar and plane-tary mission supply operations, th e production of fuels from indigenousresources is a most prominent requirement. Fo r chemically fueled powerplants , a t least unt i l 1975 or 1980, hydrogen and oxygen comprise th emost desirable fue l combination for t ransfer f l igh t s from th e lunarsurface to lunar orb i t and fo r ferry f l igh t s from lunar orbi t to Earthorbi t . For local f l igh t s between points on th e lunar surface, fuelsof lower efficiency could be used provided these were producible withless requirement on power or the i r raw materials were more abundant thanwater or H2 and 02.

These fuels might include hydrocarbons, nitrogen compounds, fluoride,and boron compounds, to name a few. When using reaction propulsion, thecombustion products are lost and are difficult or impossible to recover;however, the use of fuel cells and turbine or combustion engine typepower plants my permit the storage and regeneration of the cormbustionproducts, if energy is available for this purpose. From the precedingit is obvious that one goal of the early exploratory work should be toclassify the expected mineral resources for each of the planned bases(Moon, Mars, Phobos) giving consideration to abundance, power required

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products. It can be seen fur ther, tha t even p a r t i a l success in th e de-velopment of a moisture recovery system, fo r instance th e reduction ofevaporation losses in plant cul t ivat ion, may make possible the productionof food in semiclosed cycles on certain areas of th e Earth that ar e pre-sent ly unsuited to food production because of insuff icient so i l moisture

and l imited ava i lab i l i ty of water bu t tha t have ei ther solar or ar t i f ic ia lenergy available in suff icient amounts. Development of these techniquesfo r ex t ra te r res t r i a l use may provide the technologic and economic feasi-bi l i ty fo r the i r use on th e Earth itself when made necessary by increasingpopulation pressures or di ff icu l t logist ic conditions. (Ref. 4, ydro-ponics or Soil less Culture by H. D. Chapman, University of CaliforniaRiverside, California)

in a closed ecology, af te r initial investment of all operating compounds,only those supplies have to be replaced tha t are los t by leakage inth e broadest possible sense, including combustion products in closed-cycle propulsion systems. The requirement fo r ex t ra te r res t r i a l resourcescould be restr icted to th e replacement of leakage losses of th e majorconstituents. A study of the regeneration equipment weights and energyrequirements could lead to an evaluation of replenishment requirementsversus equipment weight needs, and ident ify these compounds tha t couldbe resupplie d more economically from earth at various logis t ics levels.One such class of compounds might be t race minerals fog hydroponiccultures which ar e needed in concentrations of I x 10-0 to I x 10-8 ofth e amount of water in th e nutr ient solution, and regeneration of suchmaterials may not pay off even a t very large bases or long durationex t ra te r res t r i a l base operations. It is important to notice tha t th especif icat ions and objectives fo r th e development of regeneration equip-ment fo r closed ecological cycles are independent of th e mineral resourcesfound a t th e ex t ra te r res t r i a l base environment, since th e amounts neededfo r replenishment could be supplied also from th e Earth if th e leakageis small. Conversely th e degree of system leakage can become higher th e

uore plen t i fu l th e required minerals and th e easier the i r mining andprocessing. Many of th e factors involved in mining and processing, ase.g., energy requirements, can be predetermined from laboratory pro-jects and theoret ical studies on Earth even before detai led informationis available on th e surface components near th e ex t ra te r res t r i a l bases i te . Many technical developments can be made with only a few actualenvironmental detai ls .

Development of Mining and Processing Technology W.hile many de ta i l sof th e most probable environmental conditions have been deduced f romobservations, ou r data on th e actual surface composition of th e Mobon,Mars and Phobos ar e much more questionable. The variety of processingrequirements fo r minerals, of which only a few elements ar e certain toex i s t in suff icient ly abundant quant i t ies within surface or near surfacelayers, makes it more di ff icu l t to forecast th e detai ls of mining andextraction processes and th e resul tant power and energy re ject ion require-ments than is th e case with th e development of closed-cycle environmentalsystems. In th e case of th e Moon it will be from two to three years andaf te r th e completion of a number of successful unmanned lunar probes be-fore a higher degree of cer ta inty of knowledge in th i s f ield can be

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achieved. However, some degree of process development can go forwardduring th e interim. Studies by R. C. Speeu (Ref. 5) and h is colleaguesa t JPL and other centers wil l be quite helpful in determining th e oper-ating ranges within which propsective mining and processing equipmentwill have to operate on th e Moon. The primary goals of such studiesshould be th e establishment of th e most promising sources of water be-cause, with th e low replenishment requirements of highly closed ecolo-gical systems, water as a raw mater ia l for return fuels is th e s inglemost important compound needed to be found and processed. Each ore pro-cessing sequence is basical ly a process of extraction and enrichment toobtain th e more or less pure product a t th e end. One could s ta r t byplanning th e development of th e equipment backwards from tha t requiredto achieve th e pure sta te towards th e degree of lesser concentrationand purity unt i l one ends up with th e range of th e more or less pro-mising raw materials. Looking a t it this way one finds that there isa siinularity iii the objectives of ore processing and processes in closedcycle technology.

ENERGY SUPPLYA ND

EQJIPMENT TO PRODUCE ENERGY FOR ECTRATERRESTRIALBASE OPERATIONS

The principal sources of heat and e lec t r i ca l energy are solar radiation,chemical and electrochemical reactions including combustion, and nuclearreactions. Fo r small amounts of energy bu t long duration operation, so]Arenergy receivers are pract ical sources. Fo r short duration and re la t ive lyhigh outputs, chemical and electrochemical reactions are prac t i ca l sincelittle weight penalty may be involved. For high energy level, long dura-t ion operation, nuclear and nuclear-electric energy sources will requireth e leas t effor t fo r maintenance and fuel replenishment. WAith highenergy demands fo r th e extraction and processing of fuels, part icular lyfrom crystal l ine water-bearing raw materials, nuclear and nuclear-electr icsources are the most pract ical approach, since th e kvh/lb rat io (weighteffectiveness) rates highest among th e various power generators. To re -plcnish these generators, only fuel elements have to be resupplied, whilethe other major components could be designed to serve re l iably duringlong-duration operation.

In order to maintain f l ex ib i l i ty of operation, easy mainta inabi l i ty andre l iab i l i ty of supply, multiple units should be provided, as e.g. 4 to5 of th e SNAP-50 type, so as to include th e requirements of waste pro-duct regeneration, and uti l izat ion and processing of ex t ra te r res t r i a lresources fo r th e production of fue l and water. This eqI'pment shouldbe designed specif ical ly fo r unattended operation, automat ica l ly con-t rol led and suitable fo r stationary instal la t ion, and ready to be pluggedin af te r completion of its emplacement and instal la t ion. Emplacementshould require a minimum of auxiliary equipment and manpower.

Fuel cel ls appear to be desirable fo r standby purposes, vehicle propul-sion and cases where regeneration of the propellants is pract ical .

Solar power should be used for s i tuat ions in which small equipment hasto be operated during daylight cycles and is lef t unattended fo r longtimes. Except for fuel cel ls and hydrogen-oxygen turbines, chemical

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reactors should be used fo r ene:gy generation only in those cases inwhich th e reactants ar e in plen t i fu l supply and can be mined and pro-cessed easi ly. However, it is doubtful tha t one coula forecast orpredict such a poss ib i l i ty a t this time without th e ava i lab i l i ty of more

complete detai ls as to th e surface and near surface composition of th eMoon and th e planets in question.

BASE MODULES AITJD HOUSING

Much has been written about concepts fo r th e establishment of extra-te r res t r ia l camps to house manned exploration teams. Since th e en-vironments of th e Moon and planets ar e extremely hos t i l e compared toany te r res t r ia l environment, great care should be taken in th e designof housing and laboratory base uni ts to make each unit easy to ins ta l land connect with other units of th e base complex. Outside use of physi-ca l labor should be minimized wherever possible and a shir ts leeve en-vironment created indoors, whenever safety considerations permit. Since

oxygen will be a major constituent of th e internal atmosphere, inflam-mability and combustibility of any pieces of equipment and base materialshould be r igorously avoided. Prefabrication of modules should be usedto a maximum degree and automatic operation emphasized. Leakage lossesshould be held to a minimum by design and use of eff ic ien t a ir lockstha t ar e evacuated before the outer lock is opened. Each unit shouldhave a high degree of self-containment in th e event of equipment fa i lu rein individual units and should have safety equipment to prevent dangeror death to expedition members in case of such fai lures . A ll suchequipment can be designed, tes ted and operat ional ly debugged beforeever being used under ex t ra te r res t r i a l operating conditions. Allmodules should be units of such a size tha t a complete workable unitcan be supplied by a single logis t ics f l igh t so tha t the loss of onef l igh t does not leave part of a base instal lat ion without some v i t a lparts or components, making th i s base unit useless. Telemetering equip-ment fo r communicating with th e Earth could be a valuable adjunct toother equipment fo r reporting operational detai ls and malfunctions.Base modules and supplies should be landed first whenever possible andthe i r condition checked out remotely before men ar e landed a t suchbases. Automatic emplacement and radiation shielding should be providedbefore men use these units to reduce th e danger of radiation exposure.

Module sizes and material strengths should be chosen so tha t uni ts areself -support ing under shielding mater ia l load if they are not pressur-ized, with th e exception of inf latable maintenance hangar modules whichw i l l possibly be needed to maintain and service mobile equipment andlaunch or shut t le vehicles. Nonreturnable supply canis ters should be

designed whenever possible fo r use as auxi l iary base modules includinguse as containers fo r the storage of cryogenic fuels . In th e planningof fue l storage fac i l i t ies , fuels and oxidizer storage tanks should bewidely separated to prevent accidental explosions and loss of more thanone storage unit . (Ref. 6, "Extraterrestr ial Housing and Fac i l i t i es , "by George W. S. Johnson, Lt . Colonel, USAF, member and subgroup chair-man on Housing and Fac i l i t i es of th e Working Group on Extraterrestr ia lResources.)

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IWater 3.122 kg per man dayOxygen 0.909 kg per man dayFood 0.563 kg per man day (containing all major and

minor nutr ient andt race

mineralsrequired)

Nitrogen in th e breathing a ir is no t l i s t ed here since it is no t consumedin th e sense tha t oxygen is, bu t needs to be replenished as small f ract ionsof it ar e lost continually by leakage.

From th e above niuabers one can conclude tha t by reclaiming water onecan cu t th e l i fe support supply requirement to 32 pe r cent of th e supplyrequired in th e case of no regeneration effo r t . If oxygen is addit ional lyregenerated by chemical means, e.g. with th e Sabat ier process (Ref. 1),only th e amount of oxygen required to balance leakage and part of th e hydro-gen fo r th e reaction have to be supplied from external sources. In thisevent, less than 20 per cent of th e original amount must be supplied, th emajor item of which is food. From th e same reference we f ind tha t waterregeneration becomes competitive with direct supplies within 7 days ofoperation, and with inclusion of 02 regeneration within 39 days. Be re -placing chemical 02 regeneration with photosynthetic regeneration, us ingalgae cultures or hydroponics in closed cycle operation, one can reduceth e supply requirement fur ther to below 10 per cent of th e original amount.

None of these steps required the use of any ex t ra te r res t r i a l resourcesand ar e based on initial supply as well as re-suppl ies from Earth fo rthe replenishment of leakage losses. The degree of logis t ic supportis actual ly inversely proportional to th e degree of sophis t icat ion ofth e regeneration system, which w i l l become increasingly complex withfur ther decrease below 10 per cent of th e original supply volume withoutany regeneration. Elec t r i c i ty and heat ar e sources for the energy needed

in these processes.

With th e reduction of th e l i fe support supply volume, th e cargos toex t ra te r res t r i a l bases will mainly consist of fue l fo r ex t ra te r res t r i a lsurface t ransporta t ion vehicles an d fuel fo r th e return of spacecraftto Earth orbi t or Earth. -

Existence of water in a form that can be mined a t th e dest inat ion basecan fur ther reduce th e log i s t i c s without requir ing extreme measures toreduce leakage losses and can supply th e raw material fo r fuels if H2and 02 ar e used as the propellant components of surface vehicle as wellas spacecraft fuel . Increases in equipment weight as a resul t of in-creased regeneration equipment sophis t icat ion are then replaced byt ransfer of mining, processing and power generating equipment to th eex t ra te r res t r i a l base, allowing loca l replenishment of th e major leakagelosses, and a t th e same time leading to th e capabi l i ty of local fuelproduction.

While th e i n i t i a l step to regeneration of waste products leads to ageneral reduction of th e logist ics level to support an extraterrestr ialbase, it does not generally affec t th e ent ire mode of operation. The

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achievement of mining and processing capabi l i t ies , however, resul t ingin avai labi l i ty of water, 02, N2 , and possibly K, P and other compoundsor elements a t th e ex t ra te r res t r i a l base wil l have a profound influenceon th e economy as well as the preferred modes of lunar and planetary

base operations. With th e ava i lab i l i ty of local fuels a t an extrater-res t r ia l base, staging as a means of increasing performance, frequentlyassociated with th e abandonment of parts of the spacecraft to reduceit s mass rat io , could be replaced by refueling operations a t th e orbi ta lterminals a t both ends of a Journey and at th e lunar and planetarysurface itself.

Vehicles, which without refueling at the i r destinations are expendableand which would carry a still smaller return stage or would require fo rthe i r return to th e original departure te rminal (e.g. Earth orbi t ) th eassistance of specia l expendable refueling tankers, will become t r u lyreusable vehicles, able to carry th e same amount of cargo in eitherdirection. The economic significance of th i s possibi l i ty is indicatedin Ref. 2, Fig. 3, and points toward an earl ier avai labi l i ty and possiblylower operating costs than using nuclear return spacecraft .

By-products of such an achievement would be th e increased survivabi l i tyof extraterrestr ial bases in case of temporary logis t ics fai lure andth e associated decline in cargo requirements which could be used toincrease th e mass rat io of the individual spacecraft with th e aim ofdecreasing t r ans i t times to destinations and to reduce the waitingt imes during which th e Av requirement fo r t ransfers to dest inat ionorbi ts would be prohibitive fo r non-refueling type operations. Bothfactors increase th e safety and f lex ib i l i ty of space research.

From th e conclusions of th e preceding paragraphs we can derive objectivesfo r advanced technology work aimed a t proving feas ib i l i ty and achieving

th e capability of designing, manufacturing, tes t ing, and operatingequipment fo r th e following purposes:

a. Long term, frequently unattended l i fe support and food pro-duction fac i l i t i es fo r extraterrestr ial bases.

b. Mining, processing and storing of products of local mineralresources with th e objectives of obtaining:

1. water2. oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen in l iquid and/or geseous form3. N, K, P etc. fo r l i fe support supply replenishment and

fe r t i l i ze r

Other objectives are:

c. To redesign and modify spacecraft operating methods to makemaximum use of extraterrestr ial fuel supplies and refuel ingtechniques.

d. To study feas ib i l i ty, desirabi l i ty, and design requirements onorbi t ing spacecraft terminals which permit in-orbi t refuelingof ferry vehic les ( t ransfer vehic les from Earth orbi ts to extra-t e r r e s t r i a l orbi ts and vice versa) and use of specia l supply andshut t le vehicles to supply and refuel orbiting spacecraft termi-nals from the lunar or planetary surface.

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Objectives for Life Support Equipment fo r Extraterrestrial Bases

To study the range of environmental conditions at the destination planetand their effects on life support equipment of a modular type, which a)recovers a ll waste water and restores this to a condition permittinguse by humans, b) recovers 02 from CO- at a minimum loss during th eregeneration process commensurate with the equipment weight involved,c) keeps losses by leakage at a minimum again judged against weightpenalty involved, d) is modular, has subsystem redundancy, is suffi-ciently automated to per-it unattended operation over reasonablylong periods and is subject to scheduled preventive maintenance andcan operate either from a 3NAP-type electric power supply or fromhydrogen-oxyzen turbines or fuel-cells, with storage facil i t ies forthe comibustion products of the two lat ter types, e) has a mean time tofailure of more than 10,000 hours, subsystems redundancy consideredbut no maintenance performed. Spare part and component levels shouldbe such that 15 months' uninterrupted operation is possible, scheduledmaintenance included. The equipment should be tested and operated

under as close a simulation of the extraterrestrial environment aspossible and tests completed two years prior to actual use on an extra-terrestrial base to permit sufficient training of operation and main-tenance personnel prior to field use.

The equipment should be designed such that the modular incorporation ofmore advanced equipment and companion equipment of the local food pro-duction type and food waste regeneration type could be performed at alater date and at the final destination without prior matching ofequipment on earth (interface problems).

Food Production

The techniques of local food production based on the use of hydroponicsin a closed cycle system and under either lunar or Martian environmentalconditions should be studied, their feasibil i ty analyzed and equipmentdesigned, developed and tested, including the use of modular redundancyand acheduled maintenance techniques compatible with the equipment underwaste regeneration. Optimization between "leakage losses", weight, com-plexity of design and operation, making extensive use of automation ina ll parts and functions of the equipment that would otherwise necessitatea high degree of operator specialization.

The objectives should include:

a) Determination of a combination of 6 - 12 plants, which together pro-vide a ll the vegetable nutrients fo r continued maintenance of human life'

under normal and extreme working conditions together with a reasonable'variety in the composition of meals. The determination should includethe minimum amounts of animal proteins required and a trade-off betweenterrestrial logistics, extraterrestr ial production of animal proteinand weight, and increase of complexity in operation equipment and facili-t ies involved. The determination of the above 6 - 12 plants should bealso made from aspects of efficiency of hydroponic production, e.g. yieldper ft 2 , water used per lb dry matter.

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The presently proposed techniques fo r water extraction, oxygen reductionfro!, local ores, etc., should be reviewed from the aspects of power andheat consumption and su i tab i l i ty fo r use in closed ex t ra te r res t r i a l en-vironments; they should be optimized fo r weight as a function of pro-ductivity and richness or concentration of th e raw material and complexi-ty of processes and equipment; and they should be selected so as to requirea mlniiawi of physical labor by base personnel outside th e enclosed environ-ment. It should be mentioned that extraordinary effor ts in materials tech-noloEr should be made to achieve l ightweight, long uninaintained l i fe andhigh efficiency of equipment. The problem of waste disposal should bestudied.

Development of 'Uater Processi,.,. Faci l i t ies To Produce LE and-d !.O2Since UT 2 and L10 as fuels can be rought more econoraicallv to a plane-tary destination in th e formn of raw water (saving volume and insulation),th e first capability needed is to decompose wateo: e lec t r i ca l ly into En2and 02 . The next step needed is to l iquefy both fo r storage as fuel.The following objectives ar e proposed:

1. Design of an electr ic dissociation plant fo r water, producing 2 lbof H2 per hour, with mini:lum weight of equipment co~nensurate with safetyof operation, ease of handling, and mainta inabi l i ty suitable fo r extra-t e r res t r ia l operation.

2. Desig of a l iquefaction plant fo r 02 and 11., aving a capabi l i tyadapted to production level under 1. and designed fo r th e same environ-mental and operational consider-ations, again with weight an importantdesign parameter. Include storage fac i l i ty planning fo r 450 days ofproduction.

3. Plan use of one unit of th e nearest SIN1AP uni t capable of doing th ejob of dissocia t ion and l iquefaction, including sizing of heat re ject ionequipment needed in a part icular environment (lunar or 21artian).

4. Test equipment under simulated environment fo r 450 days, to be com-pleted 2 years prior to actual extraterrestr ial use -and subsequently usedto t rain operating personnel in a ll operational and maintenance tasks.Tests shou.d include demonstration of adequacy of heat rejection equip-ment, emplacement of equipment, and module assembly under closely simu-lated base conditions.

Development of Mninm and Processing Technology hether th e endproduct is water, 02, K, P or the i r chemical compounds, raw materialshave to be found, brought to th e processing plant, processed, th e endproduct stored, and th e waste products removed. If th e desired elementor its compoumd is found in local minerals, its concentration has tobe determined, th e node of mining decided upon, th e proper equipmentfo r conveyance to the processing si te selected, and th e type of pro-

cessing equipment chosen that works most eff icient ly with th e concen-t ra t ion on band. A th little information to go on, one has to studythe possible approaches to be taken based on th e range of concentrationsexpected to be encountered, and then analyses must be carried ou t todetermine pract ical design ranges of suitable equipment. Eneror require-ments fo r processing, and fuel requirements fo r moving raw materials

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from th e mining si te to th e processing si te and waste products f romthere to th e waste disposal s i te , have to be determined. 7rom th i sanalysis one will find as t rade-offs concentrations of each chemicalcompound as a function of equipient weight needed and power requirements

fo r processing, a t which one would break even, whether bringing th e com-pound frof.i Earth or pi-oducing it local ly. The concentration level atwhich th i s occurs would vary from Moon to ilars or Phobos and so wouldaffect th e design of th e equipment fo r each case. Assuming tha t nobe t te r raw materials than ant ic ipated average concentration would befound, one would consider in th e preliminary design of such equipmentth e range between breas: even concentration and average concentration.The design layout should be modular again so as to accommodate con-centration variat ions encountered by choice of the number of modulesused in paral lel to cover th e expected concentration range. Here th easpects of dquipment redundancy to reduce mean tiie to fai lure of th eoveral l plant become important, and also th e effects of losing a cargoload from Earth must be considered. Much preliminary work can be donebefore

actual surface composition data, indicating actual ranges ofconcentration ar e obtained, and al ternate design solutions can bestudied. Because of differences in gravity levels and operating en-vironments, considerable differences in preferred modes of mining andt ransporta t ion of raw materials a t th e various destinations should beexpected. iYowever, in spi te of th e exis t ing uncer ta int ies in concentra-t ions of raw material, prototypes of equipment fo r those products ra t inghighest in th e t rade-off studies should be developed and tes ted and asimulation of the entire processing chain performed on Earth in orderto becane acquainted with th e proble.as facing us with th e us e of suchequipment in a cer ta inly hos t i l e environment. These simulations willalso serve to debug th e equipment and to measure th e mean time tofai lure of itjs components, to e:,ercise repair and maintenance schedules,and to determine th e type and number of spare parts needed. Beforedepending upon it, a laboratory-type se t of equipment should be incorp-orated into ear l i e r missions, ful ly supplied from Earth to become famil iarwith the actual operating problems a t th e dest inat ion.

ACKNOLNUGMENT

I want to express my sincere appreciation to Mr . Steve Dole fo r reviewof th e paper and Hiss S. Story fo r her assistance in preparation of th emanuscript.

REFERENCES

1. Steinhoff, E. A., A Possible Approach to Scient i f ic Exploration of th e

Planet Mars, The RAND Corporation, P-2515, Janumy 12, 1962.2. Koelle, 1H. H., On th e Evolution of EaL-th-_anar Transportation systems,

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center.

3. Koelle, H. H., H. 0. Ruppe and H. F. Thomme, Comparison of Lunar andMartian Mission Reguir7.ents and Payload Conversion Factors, GeorgeC. Marshall Space Flight Center.

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Use of Extraterrestrial Resources for Mars Basing, March 1963

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